However, the photos are misleading to those who never have visited such countries. These two scenes are probably not from the same country, but they could be.

The middle-class in Third World countries live like their exact counterparts in the developed world. What we have here, they have over there, from flat-screen TVs in living rooms, to laptops in coffeeshops to, yes, Blackberries spooning out instant sport updates.

But travel a few miles to the seedy underbellies of neighbourhoods where refuse is never picked up, and children play kick the can with dead animals, and you will see the rabbit ears made of wire hangers for the tellies, which are still often black and white.

Living in the First World is not about the certitude of having, but about the possibility of having. The standard of living is raised exponentially for everyone, just because the mindset is geared towards availability.

Having been raised in this reality affected my view of the world forever. I am grateful for the experience, but I would never submit my children to be raised experiencing the same sadness and turpitude, which to this day, haunts me.